Conservatives surprise McCarthy with floor rebellion over debt deal anger
On Tuesday, a group of conservatives in the House launched an unprecedented rebellion against the party leaders. They vented their anger over the recent debate on the debt limit with a surprise demonstration that shook the floor.
The Republican leadership spent an hour trying to resolve the standoff between their right flank and the rest of the party. This slowed down the plans for the party to pass legislation to protect gas stoves against potential government bans. The majority of conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus, which is aligned with Trump, voted against a bill that they supported.
According to two close associates of the leadership, this move was completely unexpected. Some GOP members feared that it was the start of a conservative campaign to undermine Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his team, unless McCarthy kept the promises he made to win the top gavel of the House in January.
Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., a conservative who is frustrated with McCarthy’s critics in the right, told reporters “there hasn’t been a decision made” yet on whether they will force a vote to remove the speaker.
|
Bishop said that Republicans who voted against the debt ceiling on Tuesday are still deciding whether or not to remove further votes in order to prove their point: “But, the problem has been precipitated by the speaker’s attitude to the issue.”
No matter how hard McCarthy tries to push through his agenda and move past the debt vote, tensions between the Freedom Caucus and McCarthy will persist. The rebels showed their ability to disrupt the House floor and that members of McCarthy’s right are not ruling out an effort to remove him.
Scott Perry, the Freedom Caucus leader and member of Congress from Pennsylvania (R), said: “I believe we still have unresolved matters from last week.” Perry, who did not join the revolt, said: “There’s a lot.”
McCarthy’s critics who voted no on Tuesday did not provide any further information on the ways in which they felt he violated the terms of his deal with conservatives when he ran for the speakership in January. Bishop claimed that the debt deal violated an agreement that federal spending would remain at fiscal 2022 levels. However, it is not clear whether such a term had ever been agreed.
It is evident that the Freedom Caucus has voted against two bills which would have prevented the Biden Administration from regulating gas cookers. According to rebels, the GOP leaders were not informed of their plan.
The dispute on Tuesday was centered around an accusation made by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., that GOP leaders threatened to sink his legislation to repeal a Biden Administration gun regulation unless Clyde supported the debt deal last week. Steve Scalise, the majority leader (R-La), denied Clyde’s claim. Clyde denied the allegation just hours before the vote.
Clyde did not hesitate to deliver a high-profile, unusual rebuke of the majority leader. Scalise and the conservative group were seen talking animatedly on the House Floor as they protested against the procedural vote for gas stoves.
Clyde and Scalise met later, after the vote failed, but Clyde remained mum about what they discussed or the direction the conference was going in.
He told reporters that the meeting was “a good one”. “I think we have a better plan now.”
Clyde was still frustrated, however, by what he called a threat made by GOP leaders to him that his gun plan would not be voted on unless he followed the party line.
He said, “Democrats may do this a lot but I don’t believe that it has a place within the Republican majority.”
Scalise suggested, as he left the meeting, that Clyde’s bill struggled to gain the GOP votes that it needed.
There were some members who didn’t support it. We’ve worked hard to get them there and we’re getting close. Scalise told the group that he wanted to introduce the bill to the House next week and ensure it passed.
The GOP’s outreach to conservatives may not be enough to break the impasse. After Clyde’s meeting with Scalise, a group of Freedom Caucus Members headed to McCarthy’s office to have their own meeting. They refused to answer any questions on the way in about what they wanted.
Before that meeting, conservatives had expressed their dissatisfaction with the way in which GOP leaders handled the debt vote, including how they felt leadership was trying to force them to support Clyde’s bill.
Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., another conservative who voted no on Tuesday in reference to Clyde said: “It was a matter involving a member being threatened.” “So I sent out a clear signal.”
Freedom Caucus members also portrayed their Tuesday show of force as a retaliation for the leadership’s decision to cut a debt agreement late last month, which sparked harsh criticism from McCarthy’s most ardent opponents. Others suggested that if they failed to pass any additional procedural measures, it would make the speaker look like he couldn’t run the House without their help.
Ken Buck, R-Colo., asked “How can you rule if you cannot pass a law?” when pressed about a future vote that would topple McCarthy.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the last time that the House overturned a rule governing the debate of legislation was in 2002.
Bishop said that conservatives wished to “enforce our agreement reached in January, under which Kevin McCarthy was appointed speaker. … As you’re seeing right now. “The majority cannot function without unification.”
Bishop said that “pulling a pin out of a grenade and rolling it under the tent for Republican unity, as was done [last] week on the debt ceiling, is untenable leadership.”
Clyde, when asked if conservatives would try to remove McCarthy using a procedure called the motion to vacate chair, called it the “nuclear” option, and replied “we’re definitely not there.”
“The discussion hasn’t taken place.” There’s always a choice. Clyde: “Right now, I think that we should work on the issues within the Republican Conference before we consider a motion to vacate.” “I’d much rather see us resolve things.”
